


(they call it) puppy love

by curledupkitten (chanyeol)



Series: Puppycat AU [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Adoption, Animal people, Families of Choice, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-05 18:16:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4190061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chanyeol/pseuds/curledupkitten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>kyungsoo is a cool cat and baekhyun is a warm puppy and both of them need all the love they can get.</p>
            </blockquote>





	(they call it) puppy love

**Author's Note:**

> this is from that thing tumblr user keuroket is doing to me because she //hates me//, so happy belated birthday, satan. idk if this is rly a ☆fic☆ or if it's a collection of drabbles in a loose approximation of a fic, but here we are. [repost from tumblr http://kitception.tumblr.com/post/87473207746/they-call-it-puppy-love ]
> 
> (warning: they're… animal…people????☆☆☆)

 

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

Baekhyun loves Joonmyun more than anyone else in the whole world. Maybe it's because Joonmyun wears really soft sweaters that keep both himself and Joonmyun warm when they watch television together, or maybe it's because Joonmyun feeds Baekhyun pieces of whatever meat he's cooking with his fingers when Baekhyun hovers too much by the stove. Or maybe it's because Joonmyun had kept him, after three other families had returned him to the shelter, because he wasn't what they wanted, and because he'd given Baekhyun the perfect home, and a warm chest to cuddle into at night when the cars driving by outside make it hard for Baekhyun to sleep.

Joonmyun is the best human Baekhyun knows, and for some reason… for some reason he loves Baekhyun, too, even if Baekhyun is never quiet and wants attention all the time.

He'd found Baekhyun right after a third family had given Baekhyun back. The daughter—her name had been Hyejin, and she'd been seven—she'd been crying, soft hiccupping tears that made Baekhyun almost cry too. Only Baekhyun hadn't wanted to cry, not when he'd expected this to happen. No one wants a bad puppy, after all.

"He's very noisy," the mother had said. "Even when he's sleeping, he's noisy." The director of the shelter had nodded.

"I did warn you," he said, and Baekhyun curled his fluffy tail around himself and hid his face in the sweatshirt that's just starting to get too small. He'd just wanted to play. He hadn't meant to make anyone angry. It had been night, and he'd been scared of the dark. All the bedroom doors had been closed, and Baekhyun had thought it would be all right, to play with one of the toys on the floor.

It hadn't been all right. He balled himself up tighter as the father fills out the paperwork to return him. "Say goodbye to Baekhyun," the mother had said, and Hyejin had kissed Baekhyun on both cheeks and whispered  _"bye, Baekhyunnie"_ before they'd disappeared out of the shelter doors and out of Baekhyun's life.

Baekhyun had only been five months old.

Kim Joonmyun had appeared a month later. He'd been wearing a suit, and a really ugly tie. Baekhyun remembers the bright purple and orange swirls that had clashed with the gray of his suit.

"Ah," the director had said, "Kim Joonmyun-ssi, hello, are you here to drop off those contracts?"

"Yes," Joonmyun had said, and Baekhyun was supposed to be in his room, the one he shared with all the other puppies under ten months, but Baekhyun was not so great at following the rules. Kim Joonmyun had a sweet voice, and Baekhyun even liked his ugly tie, which got caught in the zipper of his bag as he pulled out the papers. "I have everything right here. You have the digital copies I sent?"

"Thank you for your prompt work," the director replied, bowing quickly and then smiling. The director's smile was kind, but Kim Joonmyun's smile seemed even kinder. Baekhyun leaned out just a little further, so that he could get a better look at the man's blond hair, which was parted neatly right down the middle. Then, as he craned his neck around the door, he tripped, right on the hem of the soft cotton pants that were way too big, and he'd spilled into the hallway, flat onto his belly, as both the director and Kim Joonmyun jumped in surprise. "Baekhyun!"

"Sorry," Baekhyun had yelped, trying to wiggle back behind the doorframe while keeping as flat as possible so they wouldn't be able to see him. He peeked out through his hair, to see if they could, and the director was frowning sternly. Kim Joonmyun, though, he was laughing, and Baekhyun felt his whole face go red. "Sorry, sorry."

"He's just a puppy," the director had said, as Baekhyun sheepishly righted himself. "He didn't mean anything by it, he's just always curious."

"I thought kittens were the curious ones," Joonmyun had said, and then he'd squatted down to be closer to Baekhyun's eyelevel. "Not puppies."

"Baekhyun is all the trouble of puppies and kittens combined," the director replied. "Noisy and messy and very, very curious."

Joonmyun had nodded, his bag forgotten on the floor next to him as he peered closely at Baekhyun. "Can I pet you, Baekhyun?" He'd asked, his lips twitching. "You can say no, if you want," he'd added, and Baekhyun had said  _"yes"_ in his quietest voice.

Kim Joonmyun had smiled fully, then, right at Baekhyun, and scratched at the hair right between Baekhyun's floppy ears, letting his fingers sink into Baekhyun's thick black hair. Baekhyun had hummed contentedly and his tail had thwacked right against Kim Joonmyun's thigh, leaving hair on the fabric, and Kim Joonmyun had laughed, a gentle sound that had made Baekhyun feel like, at least for the next couple of minutes, everything was going to be fine.

He ended up talking to Baekhyun for what felt like a long time, asking him how old he was ("Six months?" Joonmyun had asked, and Baekhyun had grinned happily. "That's about five years old in human years," he mumbled to himself, and Baekhyun had pushed his head into Joonmyun's hand, reminding him to keep petting) and what he liked ("Playing," Baekhyun had said, "I love playing.")

The director had scolded Baekhyun, after Joonmyun had left, but Baekhyun had held onto the memory of that steady hand and soft voice and ugly orange and purple tie, and let that lull him to sleep that night, instead of the tears that sometimes leaked out when he was too tired to hold them in.

Baekhyun had thought that would be the last he saw of Kim Joonmyun, but it wasn't. Joonmyun came back after five days, earlier this time, and he was wearing jeans and a soft sweater in dark purple. His eyes had immediately sought out Baekhyun, and he'd smiled, and Baekhyun, giddy at the thought that the man in the suit  _remembered_ him, grinned happily, his tail wagging and his ears lifting in excitement.

"Kim Joonmyun-ssi?" The director seemed surprised to see him, and his eyes had flickered over to Baekhyun briefly before returning to Joonmyun. "Not here for business?"

"No," he'd said, his hands in his pockets. "Not here for business at all."

It had seemed surreal, sitting in the director's office later, as Joonmyun asked him again if he was sure he wanted to come home with him. Baekhyun's legs kicked at empty air, because he hadn't even been tall enough to get into the seat. Joonmyun had lifted him up carefully and set him in the chair, after asking permission.

"Are you sure you want  _me_?" Baekhyun asked Joonmyun, instead of answering, and Joonmyun had blinked at him. "Are you sure you don't mean to ask for a different puppy?"

Joonmyun gave him the best smile yet. "I'm sure," Joonmyun said. "After all, I only barely resisted asking if you wanted to come home with me last time. But you know, taking home a child, puppy or not, is a big deal, and I wanted to make sure it was the right decision for both of us."

Baekhyun looked at Joonmyun, and licked his lips, and nodded thoughtfully, wiggling his toes as his tail flopped back and forth on the chair behind him. "I want to go home with you," Baekhyun said. "I had a dream about it, but in the dream your tie wasn't so ugly." Baekhyun covered his mouth, and  _great, he's ruined it already_ , but Joonmyun laughed.

"My friend Jongdae says all my ties are very ugly," said Joonmyun. "I'm sorry."

"That's okay," Baekhyun said, "because your smile is so nice I barely noticed."

It wasn't until Joonmyun was buckling him into the backseat of his car along with all of Baekhyun's belongings (not much of anything at all: two stuffed toys and a couple changes of clothes) about a week later that Baekhyun believed this was really happening. "You really want  _me_?"

"Yes, Baekhyunnie," said Joonmyun. "You're exactly who I want." He'd smiled at Baekhyun again, closed the backseat door, and climbed into the driver's seat, starting the car as Baekhyun watched the shelter disappear behind them out of the window.

Baekhyun had kept thinking, for weeks and weeks, that every time he yipped too loudly, or accidentally broke something in Joonmyun's fancy apartment, that this would be the thing that got him sent back, but Joonmyun had always laughed, and pet him sweetly just between the ears, and said something along the lines of: "That's all right, Baekhyunnie, you're just a baby," and Baekhyun would stare at Joonmyun, amazed, that a person this wonderful had come for  _Baekhyun_ , the puppy boy that no one else wanted.

Joonmyun would pick Baekhyun up, until Baekhyun's face fit right into the curve of his neck. "It's okay to make mistakes, Baekhyunnie, and I won't yell at you for them."

"You're my favorite person," Baekhyun said, every night, after Joonmyun had gone to sleep, one arm over Baekhyun even as Baekhyun wriggled around trying to get comfortable with his tail in the way. "My person."

"Mmm," Joonmyun always responded, sleepily. "Yes, your person." 

(Still responds, even now.)

"Before I had you," Joonmyun tells Baekhyun, after breakfast one morning, "my life was too quiet."

"Now it's too noisy?" Baekhyun can get into chairs by himself now, having shot up almost a half a meter in the past month. He still has to jump a little, to get in the chair. "That's what the others said." It's still a little scary, though, getting down from the chair, since his feet can't touch the floor.

"Puppies are supposed to be noisy," replies Joonmyun. He grins, and tosses a tennis ball up and down in his hand. Baekhyun follows it with his eyes, his pulse racing. He wants to play, he wants to  _play_ \-- "I think it's just right, anyway."

"Yeah?" Baekhyun asks, abandoning his careful watch over the tennis ball in favor of Joonmyun's smile.

"Yes," says Joonmyun. "I think everything is a little brighter."

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

Joonmyun can't remember his life before Baekhyun. Well, he can, but he'd rather not.

When he'd gone into law, he'd known he was making the right choice. It's the career he'd been preparing his whole life for, and now he has it. He'd never expected, after all that effort, after all the hard work, he'd be so  _lonely._

He'd never planned on adopting. It's not something he'd ever thought about, but the moment he met Baekhyun, with those big floppy ears and that fluffy tail and those inquisitive, mischievous eyes, Joonmyun wondered if he  _could._

It wasn't something to take lightly, adopting. Baekhyun was only six months old, when he'd tripped into the room and stolen Joonmyun's heart, and Joonmyun knew taking in a puppy that young is a huge responsibility. Too many people, Joonmyun knew from his work, thought it was the same as taking in a regular pet, and Joonmyun wouldn't make that mistake, not ever.

So he'd ignored his instincts, which had been screaming at him that this was it, this was the answer to the gnawing isolation that had been bugging him for months and months, or years and years, if he looked back on college and high school with a critical eye, and left the shelter without Baekhyun.

"What do you think," Joonmyun asked Jongdae, "about me getting a puppy?"

Jongdae looked at him over the rim of his glasses, and grinned. "Like a puppy, or a Puppy?"

"The latter," Joonmyun said. "I… was dropping off a few contracts for a case I'm working on, and I found-" He stared down at his hands. "There's a little puppy named Baekhyun. He's only six months, pretty young, but he's so…"

"A quiet, sweet thing?" Jongdae seemed intrigued. "I don't know, hyung, I think you'd be good at taking care of a kid."

"He's definitely not quiet," Joonmyun said, laughing. "And he seems a kind of devious."

Surprised, Jongdae took another sip of his drink. "If you wanted someone to talk you out of it," he says, "I'm not the person. Maybe I'll get a puppy too, and we can raise them together."

Three days later, Joonmyun went back to the shelter to ask Baekhyun if he wanted to come home with Joonmyun.

Joonmyun knows he spoils Baekhyun: he scratches Baekhyun's belly for hours as they watch the television, even when he gets a cramp in his arm, and kisses Baekhyun's forehead when he falls asleep like that, sprawled across Joonmyun's lap. He lets Baekhyun choose what they have for dinner more nights than he doesn't, and has bought Baekhyun what probably amounts to a hundred baseball caps, just because he can't help but love how excited Baekhyun gets every time he puts a new one on the shelf he built in Baekhyun's room, after making sure it fits over Baekhyun's ears. (Joonmyun thinks each cap is a symbol, for Baekhyun, another thing that proves to him that Joonmyun really wants him to stay here.)

Joonmyun does want Baekhyun to stay with him. Baekhyun's his puppy, and he loves him.

He meets Yixing when Baekhyun is eight months old, and suddenly Joonmyun's life, that three months ago had been empty, is full to the brim.

Dates with Yixing keep him out sometimes, on the weekends, and Baekhyun doesn't say anything, but Joonmyun can tell he's getting lonely. He starts wearing Joonmyun's sweaters to sleep in, ones Joonmyun had worn earlier in the week, and Joonmyun comes home late on a Saturday night to find Baekhyun curled up in Joonmyun's bed wearing one of Joonmyun's college sweatshirts, his tail curled tightly around his thigh as he makes whimpering noises in his sleep.

"You should introduce Baekhyun to Jongin and Kyungsoo," Jongdae says. "You know I've been leaving Kyungsoo at Chanyeol's during the day, right?"

"Baekhyun is…"

"I know, I know, a handful, but between the two of them, Jongin and Kyungsoo can handle him." Jongdae smiles. "I think Baekhyun might even be good for Kyungsoo. Jongin just does whatever he says."

And so Joonmyun asks Baekhyun, if he might like to spend time with friends during the day, and after checking and double-checking that Joonmyun wasn't trying to give him away, Baekhyun agrees.

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

Jongdae means to get a puppy. Chanyeol and Joonmyun both have puppies, and Jongdae thinks it would be a much better idea to go with the flow. He has more than enough room for a puppy, and he could use the company.

When he walks into the shelter, though, it's not a puppy that catches his eye. Jongdae finds something else curled up at the back of the room, hiding in a box.

When he peeks into the box, he finds a black kitten, so small he'd fit easily in Jongdae's arms, and Jongdae grins as big eyes open at his looming presence. " _What,_ " the kitten says, and Jongdae chuckles, stepping back so he can look questioningly at the director.

"You don't want that one," the director says. "He's antisocial and mean and he's a runt, too." Jongdae frowns at her until she sighs. "His name is Kyungsoo."

"I'm not the biggest guy myself, you know," he says to her, making sure Kyungsoo can hear him. "I think he looks big enough for me."

Kyungsoo looks up at the sound of Jongdae's voice and gives him a stare that's probably supposed to be intimidating, but Kyungsoo's so tiny, smaller than a toddler, and so it comes across vaguely disgruntled. Jongdae covers his mouth because it's the cutest thing he's ever seen.

"Hello," he says to Kyungsoo. "I've been looking for someone to live with me."

"I hate people," Kyungsoo says solemnly. "I hate noise and bright lights, too, but especially people."

Jongdae nods. "Me too, sometimes." He cuts his eyes at the shelter director. "But if you come and stay with me, you'll have your own room, quiet and you can keep the lights as bright or as dim as you want, and you'll only really have to deal with me."

Kyungsoo's ears flick as he sits up. "You don't seem too bad," he says, slowly, carefully, like he doesn't want to get his hopes up. "She's right. I'm mean, and you don't want me." His round eyes are watching Jongdae with barely hidden anxiety. He's still just a little thing, for all his tough talk and false apathy.

"Well," Jongdae says, "that's not true. I want you very much." Kyungsoo swallows, before crossing his arms like he doesn't care one way or the other, but he's shaking slightly, and Jongdae wonders if Kyungsoo would be realllllly mad about a hug. He thinks he would, and that amuses Jongdae a lot. "Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah," Kyungsoo says, "Whatever."

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

Kyungsoo isn't exactly sure what to make of Jongdae. He's not afraid of Kyungsoo like he's supposed to be, and sure, he hisses when Kyungsoo scratches his arms and pouts when Kyungsoo rejects his affection, but mostly, he just laughs at Kyungsoo, like Kyungsoo is cute instead of dangerous. On the other hand, though, he also doesn't make Kyungsoo afraid, either. He gives Kyungsoo his space when he wants it, and doesn't gloat too badly when Kyungsoo creeps into his bed at night, because his room is cold and Jongdae's is inexplicably much warmer.

So Kyungsoo doesn't know what to make of Jongdae, who looks just as much like a cat as Kyungsoo does, even if Kyungsoo is the one with ears and a tail.

He'd never wanted a human. At the shelter, a lot of the others wanted humans, but Kyungsoo didn't really want much of anything. He doesn't like children very much, and he doesn't like noise. He likes warm drinks and electric blankets and quiet boxes inside closets, where no one can find him.

If he has to have a human though, Jongdae is probably the best human for him. He doesn't really demand much of Kyungsoo, even though Kyungsoo demands a lot from him, and sometimes, Kyungsoo watches Jongdae reading a book, glasses perched on the end of his nose, and he thinks he feels a warmth in his chest. It's disconcerting and Kyungsoo hates it, and usually when it happens, he goes and rips up something that Jongdae cares about for daring to be so confusing.

About a month after he comes to live with Jongdae, Kyungsoo comes to the realization that somehow, if he had the choice to be alone or to be with Jongdae, he'd choose Jongdae, and he throws a silent tantrum about it.

"What's wrong with you?" Jongdae asks him, as he picks Kyungsoo up. Kyungsoo thrashes, and Jongdae sighs. "You have to take a shower, Kyungsoo. Maybe it'll wash of some of the sulk."

"I hate showers," Kyungsoo informs him, and Jongdae chuckles.

"I know," he replies. "And yet, it is shower time." Jongdae carefully sets Kyungsoo on the edge of the sink, leaving his legs swinging, and turns on the shower, testing the water with one hand as Kyungsoo's ears flatten out on his hair and his tail waves agitatedly back and forth. "Is that why you've been in a bad mood?"

"It's because I love you," Kyungsoo says, and Jongdae's mouth falls open, eyes wide with shock. "I don't even like people, but I like you. I don't know why, either."

" _That's_  why you've been having a hissy fit?" Jongdae asks, and Kyungsoo scowls at him as Jongdae bursts into laughter. He takes his wet hand and ruffles Kyungsoo's hair as Kyungsoo swats at him angrily, making sure his claws are out so Jongdae can physically suffer from his embarrassment.

As he washes Kyungsoo's hair, sudsing it up patiently as Kyungsoo slumps and tries to make himself disappear, Jongdae leans forward and kisses his nose. "Silly kitty," he says, "I love you too."

There's that warmth again, and Kyungsoo is sure to make Jongdae pay by getting him soaking wet as he rinses the shampoo from Kyungsoo's hair.

That night, though, Kyungsoo sleeps with Jongdae in his bed without waiting for him to fall asleep first, and Jongdae is so pleased, lips curling up in that sneaky little smile that Kyungsoo has come to know means Jongdae is going to do something humiliating. "Who's a cute kitty?" Jongdae says, tickling Kyungsoo's stomach, and Kyungsoo's tail smacks Jongdae in the chest.

"Not me," Kyungsoo says. 

☆(After Jongdae goes to sleep, Kyungsoo makes sure to lie down on his head, mashing his belly into Jongdae's face.)☆

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

Baekhyun meets Kyungsoo for the first time on a winter morning, when Joonmyun drops him off at Chanyeol's house. Baekhyun has been bouncing off the walls all morning, and he already has a busted lip from running into three different walls because his socks! Are so! Slippery!

Baekhyun is so excited to say hello that he trips over his sweater-- well, Joonmyun's sweater that Baekhyun is  _accidentally_ not giving back because it smells like Joonmyun, and falls directly on top of Kyungsoo, making the five month old kitten bristle angrily and hiss at him to get away. Baekhyun says  _"sorry, sorry, sorry,"_  and sniffs at Kyungsoo's neck, rubbing his nose into soft skin so he can get his scent. It's been a long time since he's seen another pet, and he'd only lived with puppies at his shelter.

And  _oh_ , Baekhyun likes kittens, if they're like Kyungsoo, because Kyungsoo is really small and so adorably frowny that Baekhyun wants to hug him and hug him and hug him until he smiles, because he bets Kyungsoo's smile is even cuter than his frown.

"This may have been a terrible idea," Joonmyun says to Chanyeol, and Baekhyun looks up at Joonmyun in alarm, one hand wrapped around Kyungsoo's wrist and the other cupping the scowling Kyungsoo's neck.

"Do I have to be alone again?" Baekhyun asks quickly, panicking, because how can he have messed it up  _already_ , but Joonmyun shakes his head, even as Kyungsoo pulls himself free of Baekhyun's hold, ruffled and pink with discomfort.

"No," Joonmyun says, smiling. "But you have to be gentle with Kyungsoo, Baekhyunnie. Maybe you should play with Jonginnie?"

Baekhyun looks over at Jongin, who is sleeping on his back, limbs all spread out and mouth open, and he's pretty cute, but he's  _sleeping_ , and Baekhyun wants to play. He wants to play with the tiny black kitten who has now found a way to the top of Chanyeol's bookshelves.

"Stay away from me," Kyungsoo says. "I hate puppies." Baekhyun's tail stops wagging, and he looks sadly up at Kyungsoo, who stares back at him tail flicking dangerously.

"You hate me?" Jongin asks drowsily, and Kyungsoo's face goes a little softer.

"All the other puppies," Kyungsoo says. "You're okay."

"You're going to like me, too," Baekhyun says, pawing at the base of the bookshelf.

Chanyeol comes up behind Baekhyun and pets him. "You can play with me until Jongin wakes up," he says. "Let's leave Kyungsoo be."

And Chanyeol does play with Baekhyun, makes him jump around and run until he's winded, lying panting on the ground with his hair matted to his forehead and his ears are hot and itchy. His tail beats a steady measure against the ground,  _thump thump thump_ , and he closes his eyes as he catches his breath.

"Now you smell bad," Kyungsoo says, and Baekhyun opens his eyes to see Kyungsoo glaring down at him. "You're the worst kind of puppy."

Kyungsoo isn't moving away though, so maybe, just maybe, Kyungsoo will want to be Baekhyun's friend eventually.

Baekhyun reaches out, and Kyungsoo snarls. "Don't touch me," he says, and Baekhyun tries to figure out if Kyungsoo means it.

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

Jongdae stifles his laugh as Kyungsoo digs his claws into the backs of his jeans. "We must leave," Kyungsoo says. "Now."

"You didn't have fun today?" Jongdae asks. He looks over to the floor, where Jongin is asleep again in a soft cuddly pile of pillows, and then past him, where Baekhyun is staring past Jongdae at Kyungsoo with his tail wagging, mouth in a big grin.

"No," Kyungsoo says. "I hate him."

This time, Jongdae's laugh spills out before he can catch it, and Baekhyun's tail thumps twice against the ground as his muscles tense. Kyungsoo shuffles so he's more completely behind Jongdae. "He seems to like you, though."

"He's intolerable," Kyungsoo says, and butts his nose against the back of Jongdae's knee. Jongdae bends down and picks him up as Baekhyun's muscles spring, sending him barreling toward them. "Clingy, whiny, LOUD--"

Jongdae's whole body shakes with laughter as Kyungsoo buries his face in Jongdae's neck. Baekhyun is pawing at Jongdae's knees, talking a mile a minute about how much fun they had today, and how he was "sorry about Kyungsoo's box, really, but it was worth it, right? Because we got to take a nap together!" and Baekhyun looks so happy that Jongdae wants to warn him that it will take a while for Kyungsoo to warm up to him, if he ever does.

"Leaving," Kyungsoo says, looking down at Baekhyun from Jongdae's arms, and Baekhyun reaches up and swats at Kyungsoo's tail. Kyungsoo stiffens in Jongdae's hold. "I told you not to touch me."

"But we're friends now, right?" Baekhyun asks, still with that big smile, tail still wagging. Jongin wakes, blinking at them both sleepily before deciding he's not interested, going back to sleep, and yes, Jongdae can see why Kyungsoo prefers Jongin to Baekhyun.

But, later, when Jongdae asks Kyungsoo if he wants him to find somewhere else to take him, during the day, Kyungsoo's ears flatten, and he averts his eyes. "No," Kyungsoo says. "It's fine. Irritating puppies don't affect my plans," and Jongdae thinks maybe he won't have to warn Baekhyun after all, since Kyungsoo's fond of him already.

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

Baekhyun and Jongin are running around outside on the roof of Jongdae's apartment building when Baekhyun trips and falls, again. "All you do is trip," Kyungsoo says, watching them from his new box. "Why don't you just stay down and save yourself the trouble?"

Baekhyun rolls over and whimpers, because his knee hurts, and Jongin whimpers worriedly, running around Baekhyun and waving his arms as Baekhyun examines his knee. It's skinned and bleeding and his jeans are ripped.

It's Kyungsoo that takes Baekhyun downstairs, down from the roof and back to Jongdae's apartment. Jongdae won't be home for another hour or so, and so Kyungsoo carefully cleans Baekhyun's knee, and puts a big Pororo bandaid over the biggest scratch as Jongin anxiously thwacks his tail against the doorframe, asking Kyungsoo if Baekhyun's going to bleed to death.

"We're not that lucky," Kyungsoo tells him, and Jongin beams at them both, his ears shifting back and forth.

Baekhyun watches as Kyungsoo carefully smoothes the bandaid again, with his small careful hands, and his insides start to bubble pleasantly with happiness.

That's the day Baekhyun decides that Kyungsoo is his favorite (except for Joonmyun, of course), and without thinking he leans forward and he licks Kyungsoo's face, right up his left cheek. "Thank you, Kyungsoo," Baekhyun says, then nips at Kyungsoo's ear, which twitches and tickles Baekhyun's chin as he leans back.

Kyungsoo gapes at him, shocked and grossed out, and then locks Baekhyun in the bathroom until Jongdae comes home.

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

"Why did you lock Baekhyun in the bathroom?" Jongdae asks him, patiently, as Kyungsoo hides under the bed.

"I'm dying," Kyungsoo says.

Jongdae gets down on his hands and knees so he can look at Kyungsoo. "Are you going to come out?"

"No," Kyungsoo says. "Never. I'm definitely dying. I'll probably die before I come out."

"I made chicken katsu," says Jongdae, and Kyungsoo shimmies uncertainly. "So you should probably die after dinner."

"Okay," Kyungsoo says, slinking out. As soon as he clears the edge of the bed, Jongdae scoops him up. "Put me down!"

"You're almost too big for me to pick up now," Jongdae says.

"What a shame," Kyungsoo says, but he wraps his tail around Jongdae's waist anyway. Since it's there.

Jongdae sits on the edge of the bed, so that Kyungsoo can rest comfortably in his lap. "You wanna tell me why you think you're dying?"

"Baekhyun infected me," Kyungsoo says. "He infected me with his weird and now my stomach hurts, and I feel very hot, like I've been in the sun too long." Kyungsoo rests his forehead on his human's shoulder. "I hate him."

"How did Baekhyun infect you with his weird?" Jongdae is laughing at him again. It seems like Jongdae is always laughing at him, but that's okay, since Jongdae's laugh sounds very nice. Not like Baekhyun's laugh, which is horrible and loud and stupid.

"He licked me," Kyungsoo says. "Disgusting." Baekhyun's tongue had been warm and Kyungsoo isn't used to… Kyungsoo never spends much time with puppies that aren't Jongin, and Jongin would never lick Kyungsoo because he knows Kyungsoo is a dangerous cat.

"Awww," Jongdae says, "puppy kisses for my Kyungsoo," and Kyungsoo snarls in aversion and refuses to acknowledge Jongdae's hand combing through his hair.

"Feed me chicken katsu," Kyungsoo says. "It's my last meal."

☆☆Kyungsoo doesn't manage to fall asleep at all that night, because he's thinking about  _kisses_ and how Baekhyun definitely didn't kiss him and how he definitely hates all dogs that aren't Jongin.☆☆

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

Joonmyun meets Jongdae for beers late on a work night. Baekhyun had fallen asleep early, and Jongdae says Kyungsoo often doesn't sleep at night, because cats are nocturnal. "But he's fine on his own," Jongdae says. "He likes having time to himself."

"I think my puppy has a crush on your kitten," Joonmyun says. He takes a sip of his beer. Baekhyun talks about Kyungsoo all the time, so much that Joonmyun sometimes watches Baekhyun go a bit blue in the face before he takes a deep breath, only to start again, yellow and black sweater making him look like a bumblebee in the spring, flitting from flower to flower.

Joonmyun loves his noisy little puppy so much.

Jongdae chuckles. "I think so too," he says. "He certainly has his work cut out for him."

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

Jongin doesn't know when Kyungsoo started letting Baekhyun close to him. He thinks it was some time toward the end of winter, right about when Baekhyun's jeans had become centimeters too short for his long legs, revealing patches of ankle. He thinks it's then because Baekhyun has his legs in Kyungsoo's lap as Kyungsoo insults him about it. Baekhyun doesn't seem to care that Kyungsoo never says anything nice, because he keeps hugging Kyungsoo from behind or falling asleep on him.

Jongin's own relationship with Baekhyun is simple. He and Baekhyun can run around and play games, and sometimes Jongin talks to Baekhyun, about  _before_ , that time in his life before Chanyeol had found him and brought him home. It's easy to talk to Baekhyun about that, because Baekhyun knows what it's like, to feel unwanted, and then to find someone who cares about you more than anyone else.

Jongin's relationship with Kyungsoo is easy, too. Kyungsoo pretends not to like hugs or puppies but he does like them very much. Jongin doesn't know why Kyungsoo thinks it's bad to want kisses and snuggles, because Kyungsoo's  _before_  is something they've never talked about, but Jongin thinks Kyungsoo is secretly very kind, when he forgets he doesn't want to be.

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, though, don't match at all. Baekhyun is everything that annoys Kyungsoo, and Kyungsoo is everything that makes Baekhyun nervous in other people.

But…

But… somehow, Jongin thinks it works? He's not sure how, and he doesn't really want to think about it, too much, not when his own feelings, about Chanyeol, are confusing enough already.

Kyungsoo waits for Baekhyun to fall asleep before he lets himself relax into his hugs, though, and curls himself into the bigger puppy, and Jongin laughs as he goes back to watching the clock, waiting for Chanyeol to come home.

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

Chanyeol laughs when he comes to get Jongin, and Baekhyun and Kyungsoo are asleep together, spooning. Kyungsoo's tail is wrapped around Baekhyun's wrist and Baekhyun's arm is around Kyungsoo's waist. Baekhyun is chewing on Kyungsoo's hair, and Kyungsoo's back is curved into Baekhyun's chest. "Cute~" he coos, and Jongin tugs on his shirt.

"Don't wake them up," Jongin says, looking up at Chanyeol with wide eyes. He doesn't have to look up as far as he used to. Chanyeol's going to miss tiny Jongin, when Jongin is big enough to look Chanyeol in the eyes. "Kyungsoo will be embarrassed."

"Let's leave quietly, then," Chanyeol says, ruffling Jongin's hair and then scratching behind one of his ears.

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

(Baekhyun thinks the only way to know if you like something or not is to chew on it. That's why he's chewed so many pairs of Joonmyun's leather loafers. Baekhyun really likes Kyungsoo's hair.)

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

Kyungsoo decides that Baekhyun's laugh is not as terrible as he'd thought it was. It makes Kyungsoo feel warm, like hot drinks and electric blankets.

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

It was easier, Baekhyun thinks, when he was smaller, and he didn't know why Kyungsoo's tiny frowning face made his tail thump wildly on the ground and his face go red. Now that he's bigger... well, he knows what it means, and he can't stop thinking about it.

He tries to pretend everything is the same, cuddling up to Kyungsoo same as always, but now, when Kyungsoo pushes him away with an unimpressed snort, Baekhyun's tail stops wagging, and his ears droop, and he hopes Kyungsoo isn't paying enough attention to notice he's breaking Baekhyun's heart.

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

Kyungsoo makes sure to look as annoyed as possible when Baekhyun plops his head in his lap as he's trying to read, but once Baekhyun falls asleep, making tiny puppy noises that make it  _impossible_  for Kyungsoo to concentrate, he lets the expression fall. Warily, he moves his hand to Baekhyun's bare belly and scratches it lightly, the way that makes Baekhyun smile in his sleep, and makes his tail, trapped between the sofa and his body, twitch as much as it can with pleasure. Baekhyun wriggles into the touch, and Kyungsoo blushes when Baekhyun whispers Kyungsoo's name in his sleep.  _"--soo, kyungsoo~"_

Kyungsoo's never met anyone, besides Baekhyun, with the ability to sound smug and content like that even in his sleep. So flustered, he pushes Baekhyun off his lap and onto the floor. Baekhyun wakes with a yelp, and Kyungsoo scowls at him, flat eared and tail coiled tight around his waist, when Baekhyun looks up at him, sleepy and bewildered. "I'm trying to read," Kyungsoo says, flicking his ears, and Baekhyun gives him this weird look that Kyungsoo can't read, before nodding and curling up on the floor.

Kyungsoo doesn't feel guilty about it, but he does, later, let his foot rub up Baekhyun's spine when he's sure the other's gone to sleep, and plays like he's doing it because it's convenient, and not because he likes the soft whimpers of happiness Baekhyun makes when Kyungsoo's toes scratch at the base of his tail.

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

Kyungsoo's first memory is of waking up in a gutter by himself, in a cardboard box. The cardboard walls are the only thing protecting him from the cold, and he's shivering, shivering so much. He doesn't know what to do, only he's hungry and he's afraid. He mewls and whines, for hours or for days maybe, but no one comes to help him for longer than he can keep track of. His second memory is of being wrapped in a warm towel, in a new cardboard box, and this box keeps him even safer than the last one had.

Whenever Kyungsoo worries, he hides in a cardboard box. He remembers when Baekhyun had broken his, ripped it up trying to get inside of it to pester Kyungsoo. It had felt like Baekhyun was stealing his safe place, and it had made Kyungsoo even more determined to dislike Baekhyun, that day.

Only now, Kyungsoo's too big for cardboard boxes, and he's starting to notice that being around Baekhyun makes him feel that same kind of safe.

Probably, he reassures himself, because Baekhyun's fur is the color of cardboard. That's all.

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

Yixing has two kittens instead of one. "They're a set," he tells Joonmyun, who can tell that already, since Zitao and Sehun sleep in one bed, tangled into each other. "It was both or nothing." He shrugs. "It seemed a shame to separate them, anyway."

They take to Baekhyun much better than Kyungsoo had. Joonmyun's glad, since now the cats are always over, along with Yixing. Yixing is a much better cook than Joonmyun is, and he likes Baekhyun a lot, so he remembers Baekhyun's favorite foods and blushes when Baekhyun compliments him with starry eyes.

Zitao and Sehun like Joonmyun, too. They curl up on either side of him when he reads his e-mail on his laptop, limbs stretched across him as they try to hug each other through him. He's a casualty of their affection, but it's cute, and they always kiss his cheeks in apology if they squish him enough that he complains.

Baekhyun cons Yixing into making patbingsu for breakfast way too often, and always licks off the serving spoon, and Joonmyun's family is so big now. He likes it.

In all the chaos, he almost misses that Baekhyun is avoiding Kyungsoo. He is, though, which is strange because Baekhyun adores Kyungsoo, and no amount of rejection has ever made Baekhyun stop adoring Kyungsoo before.

"What's up, Baekhyunnie?" he asks, one evening, as they do the dishes together. Baekhyun comes up to Joonmyun's shoulder now, and Joonmyun's pretty sure Baekhyun will end up taller than he is, eventually. "With Kyungsoo?"

Baekhyun pouts, his whole body dropping, and his tail tucks between his legs. "Kyungsoo doesn't like me," Baekhyun says, "not the way I like him."

"How do you like him?" Joonmyun asks, even though he knows.

Baekhyun wriggles with embarrassment, and almost drops the plate he's drying. He catches it, though, and sets it carefully on the kitchen counter, his ears flopping down to cover his eyes. "More than cupcakes," Baekhyun says finally. "But less than Joonmyun."

"Am I number one?" Joonmyun teases, and Baekhyun nods.

"You found me right after a family brought me back," Baekhyun says. "I was so sad, and you were so nice, and all the things other people hated about me were things you liked." Baekhyun wraps his arms around Joonmyun's waist and hugs him. "You're the only person who has ever loved all of me."

"There are lots of us now," Joonmyun says. "We all love you, Baekhyunnie."

"Even when I'm annoying?" Baekhyun asks, nuzzling his nose into Joonmyun's sternum.

"Even then," Joonmyun says. "I don't think you're annoying, Baekhyun."

"Kyungsoo does," Baekhyun mumbles, into Joonmyun's shirts, and Joonmyun cards a hand through Baekhyun's soft hair.

"I bet he doesn't," Joonmyun says. "He's just a different sort of pet than you are. He doesn't like things the same way."

"Yeah," Baekhyun says. "I know." His tail is still tucked firmly between his legs. Joonmyun sighs.

Baekhyun cuddles up with Sehun and Zitao in his room after that, and the three of them fall asleep in a pile on the floor in a nest of pillows, Zitao and Sehun's tails twisting together at the small of Baekhyun's back. Joonmyun watches them sleep from the door.

"Why does it feel like we have three kids?" Yixing asks, appearing at his side, drinking from a mug of coffee.

"Because we do," Joonmyun says, laughing quietly and shutting the door.

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

Baekhyun's a teenager now, more human in this than puppy. He decides to bury his feelings for Kyungsoo like he'd bury a bone: a treasure that he needs to hide, because otherwise someone else might figure it out. He explains it all to Joonmyun, who gives him a soft smile and musses his hair. "Whatever you think is best, Baekhyunnie," he says, and Baekhyun snuggles closer to his favorite person and lets him rub his belly like old times as they watch the boring news on television.

Baekhyun makes a vow to himself that he's going to try to not bug Kyungsoo so much.

Kyungsoo watches him with steady eyes, some days, as he wrestles with Jongin for control of the remote, but Baekhyun stifles the urge to tackle Kyungsoo down into the couch and snuggle into him, because Kyungsoo doesn't like it most of the time.

When they're all together, Baekhyun thinks Kyungsoo might be on the verge of asking why Baekhyun's stopped, but he doesn't, so Baekhyun figures he likes it better this way.

Baekhyun misses the smell of Kyungsoo's hair and Kyungsoo telling him to be careful and the way Kyungsoo rubs Baekhyun's tummy whenever he thinks Baekhyun is sleeping.

"It's weird, anyway," Sehun tells him, tail winding around Zitao's calf as they fall into each other in Chanyeol's armchair. Joonmyun and Jongdae are ‘cooking' and mostly burning things in the kitchen, and Sehun occasionally looks at them and winces. "You're a dog and he's a cat."

"You're cats," Baekhyun says, "and we get along fine."

"But you aren't all…" Zitao trails off, then snickers, and he and Sehun make a heart out of their tails, " _that_ , with us."

Baekhyun whines and tries to crawl under the couch, but he's too big for that now, and he gets stuck, his butt sticking out and his tail between his legs.

 

 

★ ★ ★

 

 

Baekhyun starts spending more time with Zitao and Sehun, cuddling up with the two kittens that, when they're with Baekhyun, act more like dogs than cats. Kyungsoo is not jealous, at all, because naturally Baekhyun is going to spend time with his owner's boyfriend's kittens. They're constantly sharing the same space, so Kyungsoo guesses it's great that they get along so well. But the thing is, he's gotten used to Baekhyun coming over to bother him whenever they're in the same room, and it's weird when he doesn't, opting to stick close with kitties that aren't Kyungsoo. It's just that it's weird, and not, definitely not, that Kyungsoo is jealous. Because he's not. Not jealous at all.

Still, Kyungsoo grabs Baekhyun's tail when Baekhyun runs past him, giving chase to a tennis ball that Joonmyun had thrown absently as he typed something on his laptop, and at the yank, Baekhyun sprawls backwards onto Kyungsoo's lap, yelling with surprise. His ears wiggle with confusion, and he looks at Kyungsoo with parted lips and a tilted head. "What?"

"Stay," Kyungsoo says, ears going red and scowling, and Baekhyun licks his lips, swallowing, his ears lifting. His eyes get sparkly, kind of, and Kyungsoo doesn't know what that face means. "Just… stay."

Baekhyun rolls, so that he's lying on his belly, resting his chin on Kyungsoo's thigh, and peers up at Kyungsoo through his bangs, "like this?"

"Good dog," Kyungsoo mumbles, and Baekhyun beams at him, an expression Kyungsoo hasn't seen in weeks and makes him feel unfortunately flushed. "Now be quiet."

"But Kyungsoo, I—"

"This doesn't mean I missed you," Kyungsoo says gruffly, scratching at his ears and moving so his tail can rest on the arm of the sofa. "I was just cold, so shut up."

Baekhyun's tail is still wagging though, and he's only quiet for about two minutes before he's explaining every adventure he and Sehun and Zitao had created for themselves today, nuzzling into Kyungsoo's belly and making Kyungsoo want to do something awful and embarrassing like  _purr_.  
  
Kyungsoo guesses he doesn't really mind, since Baekhyun is warm, and is finally paying attention to him the way he's come to expect.  
  


 

★ ★ ★

 

  
(Baekhyun's friendly and cute to everyone, not just Kyungsoo, so it probably doesn't mean anything when Baekhyun snuggles close, but maybe??? Maybe Kyungsoo wants it to.)  
  
((Because even if puppies are silly and loud and clingy, Baekhyun is  _his_  dog. And he knows he should probably tell Baekhyun that, but he doesn't think he'd take it well if Baekhyun said he didn't want to be.))  
  


 

★ ★ ★

 

  
  
Baekhyun wants to give up on Kyungsoo, he really does, but he can't, because Kyungsoo stole Baekhyun's heart back when Baekhyun was still just a tiny puppy, and he has no idea how to ask for it back. Plus, Baekhyun is, for better or for worse, a loyal puppy, and he always has been.  
  


 

★ ★ ★

 

  
  
Jongdae watches out of the corner of his eye as Baekhyun smushes himself into Kyungsoo's lap. Kyungsoo's never caught up to Baekhyun in size, and Baekhyun is too broad in the shoulders and long of limb to fit in Kyungsoo's lap, even if he's nowhere near as tall as Jongin.  
  
Baekhyun is talking about something, excited and fidgety as usual, and Kyungsoo has this look of long suffering on his face that is belied by the hand caressing Baekhyun's tail. Whatever Baekhyun had been upset about seems to have disappeared and taken the space between them along with it.  
  
Baekhyun leans closer to Kyungsoo, still chattering, tail wagging and wagging, and Jongdae braces himself for Kyungsoo to swipe at Baekhyun, or shove him away, but instead, Kyungsoo leans forward, rubbing his and Baekhyun's noses together, their eyelashes brushing in butterfly kisses.  
  
Jongdae has to cover his smile as Baekhyun's tail does this hopeful, stuttering wave, and his ears perk up, but Kyungsoo's brain seems to catch up with him, and his whole body flushes. He wiggles free of Baekhyun, sending Baekhyun reeling to the floor, and runs into Jongdae's room, probably darting under the bed, where he's the only one small enough fit.  
  
Baekhyun stares after him for a moment, and then rushes to follow, his eyes bright and his grin so wide that Jongdae's pretty sure he could turn out every light in the house and it would still be bright.  
  
Jongdae follows at a leisurely pace, standing just back from the door to watch Baekhyun get on his hands and knees and talk to the gap between Jongdae's bed and the floor.  
  
"Come out," Baekhyun says. "Please, please, please?"  
  
"I hate puppies," Kyungsoo says. He sounds so pitiful that Jongdae almost ruins everything by laughing aloud. He swallows the laughter down because this is important.  
  
Baekhyun wrinkles his nose up, hesitating, and sits back on his heels, twisting his hands in his sweater and nibbling on his lip with sharp canines. "Do you really?" Baekhyun asks.  
  
Kyungsoo is silent, and Baekhyun nods to himself, lying down on his side so he can look right under the bed. His tail catches in Jongdae's messy, displaced sheets, because Jongdae hadn't bothered to make the bed that morning.  
  
Baekhyun takes a deep breath, his ears anxiously flicking. "Because Joonmyun's my favorite person," he says to the gap, "but you're my favorite kitten, Kyungsoo. My favorite anything else."  
  
And miracle of miracles, Kyungsoo peeks out from under the bed, face still completely red, and says "shut  _up_ , Baekhyun." He reaches, slowly, with much trepidation, for Baekhyun's hand, and Jongdae chuckles to himself, quietly returning to the kitchen to make himself some tea.

 

  
  
★ ★ ★


End file.
